Human Rights

One Straight Shooter

Ohio's concealed carry law allows "only the media to find out the names of those obtaining such permits" for weapons.

Iraq's War on Unwarranted Criticism

"In a difficult security situation, we need to fight the terrorists by all means, and one of the main means is the media. We need them all to co-operate, even the private sector. It's for national security," said Ibrahim Janabi, a former Iraqi intelligence officer who Prime Minister Iyad Allawi just appointed as the head of the new Higher Media Commission.

Not-So-Democratic Convention

"One cannot conceive of other elements [that could be] put in place to create a space that's more of an affront to the idea of free expression," said U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock, after touring the Democratic National Convention's "free speech" protest zone in Boston. The zone is "bordered by cement barriers, a double row of chain-line fencing, heavy black netting, and tightly woven plastic mesh," with "coils of razor wire" along elevated train tracks.

Protesters Entitled to Wear T-shirts

Trespassing charges have been dropped against Nicole and Jeff Rank, who wore anti-Bush T-shirts to the president's July 4 rally in Charleston, West Virginia. "Law enforcement officers told the couple to take the shirts off, cover them or get out," reports Jennifer Bundy. "When they refused and sat down, they were arrested." According to Charleston Mayor Danny Jones, the couple was arrested for their own safety.

Bushwhacked

In Botswana, "hundreds of Bushmen evicted from their Kalahari homelands have suffered what some would see as the final indignity: being paraded before British [Parliamentarians] as part of a lavish public relations campaign." The indigenous rights group Survival International reported, "the visit was organised by the huge PR company, Hill & Knowlton, which has been contracted by the Botswana government and [diamond c

Disabled Rights vs Verified Votes?

The New York Times editorializes, "Voters should have complete confidence about their ballots' being counted accurately and ...

The Diplomatic Faithful

FaithfulAmerica.org, which describes itself as "an online community of people of faith who want to build a more just and compassionate nation," will run commercials on the al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya Arabic language networks apologizing for the torture of Iraqi detainees by U.S. servicepeople and military contractors.

Art Imitates Life Sciences

"I feel sorry for Steve Kurtz because he lost his wife ... and he didn't even have time to grieve," said art professor Beatriz da Costa. Kurtz is part of the Critical Art Ensemble, an acclaimed group "dedicated to exploring the intersections between art, technology, radical politics and critical theory." Following Kurtz's wife's sudden death, police found "biological materials" at their home and involved the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Kurtz's art uses plants, bacterial cultures and lab equipment.

Irrelevant No Longer?

The U.S. treatment of detainees in Iraq "might be designated as war crimes by a competent tribunal," warned acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan.

A Beef with Human Rights

In a move Australia's foreign minister decried as "outrageous and indefensible, utterly at odds with ... an open and democratic society," an American human rights monitor has been ordered to leave Indonesia.

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